Slower?
I don't see that at all.

Stimulating the brain can indeed be a form of relaxation; some do crosswords etc, jigsaws; some study animals, plants etc just to soothe their curious minds. Delving deeper into the mind by using drugs, exploring the effects of the drugs, etc sounds very much like what Holmes would do as part of his relaxation time. Never know when that could come in handy.
Lat's face it Sherlock Holmes does many things in his downtime that ordinary people would not do. Investigating the effects of drugs or just exploring where it takes him is just one more of those things, canon or otherwise.

sherlocked wrote:

................., that you are left with the impression, that you cannot take anything serious, you are presented with, anymore. And that is very much against the spirit of the original Holmes stories, which make the point that everything is explained, even if the plot strains reality quite a bit. ........

That is a key point that I forgot to address also.
Gatiss has 'defused' that by suddenly this season saying " Oh it's not a detective story, it's a story about a detective" which is NOT how they set out to do these series. I recall an early interview where they said part of the glory is showing the viewer all that needed to be seen to solve the cases, yet we miss these things till Sherlock shows us. That doesn't happen anymore, hence they changed the description of the show to suit their new agenda.
They wanted to make a show that ACD fans loved & could relate to, and to introduce the magic of ACD's Sherlock Holmes to others. By not keeping to that formula, they HAVE disappointed those who watched for that reason.

I guess it proves that writing in the same style as ACD is not something they can keep doing anymore. Sad really.

Stayin Alive wrote:

I don't like it either for a season finale episode. Nothing was surprising really. I guess the only people who may have enjoyed this episode would be people who:

-- didn't know CAM would die.
-- are over-fascinated with the over-use of the mind palace.
-- didn't know Sherlock could fake a romantic relationship.
-- thought Moriarty was dead.

HLV started off pretty good, then it just got slow and boring. It suited the part of a boring second/middle episode like Blind Banker and HoB -- in MY opinion ofcourse! I think many fans get too over-emotional about the storyline and look too deep into trivial things and forget that this is Sherlock Holmes we're talking about. No amount of good acting, humor nor mind palaces could compensate for the fact that this entire season certainly did not live up to expectations. I certainly would not be at the edge of my seat waiting for season 4 like I was after TRF. Whenever it comes, it comes. I feel very cheaply cheated after a 2 year wait. Don't know bout you guys, but that's my HONEST impression.
 

 
I'd certainly agree with you on all but the "thought Moriarty is dead" thing. It's just being used as the drawcard for the next episode in my opinion. He's 6 ft under for sure. (but that's another thread's debate lol)

Certainly the mind palace has been done a few times too many. Yes it was great first time, even 2nd & third in the early series, but it has now become ludicrously over the top in both usage & viewing. Same as the words on the screen when Sherlock analyses someone/ some place etc. The first time it was used way back in the first show was good, occasional uses through other shows were good but when used as he 'summed up' Mary first time, the words came too thick & fast, no obvious connection as to how he decided these things; it wasn't clever it was a muddled mess. I saw many complaints across the internet that people couldn't read it at all.

The same happened with various things tha

Swanpride wrote:

There are two aspects to Sherlock's behaviour, both in canon and in the show. I firmly believe that he is able to control his drug addiction. It is just a way deal with the boredom...I don't even believe that it is supposed to enhance his abilities, but to control the "engine spinning out of control".

 
So his use of drugs is NOT an addiction then. Yes he uses drugs, but he is not addicted to them. SO what you mean is he is "able to control his dug use."

From early in the series we hear something of him 'being clean' during a search of the flat that they call a 'drug raid' yet it has never been stated that he was a drug addict; people are still just assuming this to be true.
I find it's interesting how people make that leap from the 'I'm clean" line to him having a drug addiction. Because that's all he has actually admitted to, and that's all characters have said of him. No reference to what they are speaking of. Sign of the times perhaps?

Ozma wrote:

Bruce Cook wrote:

And if any man is stronge enough to resist the temptations of the flesh for both moral and logical reasons, Sherlock Holmes is that man.
 
Feel free to tell me I’m stuffed completely full of fertilizer, folks.  Read my signature below to know how much I value a good debate.

sorry but, what kind of moral and logical reasons are these? He didn't sleep with her, because he felt bad since he was deceiving her? But yet he thought nothing of tricking her into thinking that they were together and even fricking fake-proposing to her just to further his own plan?

As a woman, the second would hurt me much more if I were to be honest with you. With the first, like Jeanine says, at least she would have gotten to sleep with a hunky crazy detective

Where are his morals here? Or in other words - what are really his motives for not going all the way in his deception - if he is not in fact gay? I really don't think he was in any way worried about preserving her carnal treasure

 
Having sex is the leading cause of many diseases, protected or unprotected.
The world is full of STD's as it is, why would Sherlock risk having any kind of affliction spread to himself?
And then there is the possibility of actual conception, again protected or unprotected makes no difference in some cases.

Morally, Sherlock would not want any other complications arising from this coupling; the ruse was plain and simply to gain access to CAM's office etc.

Whether or not the woman in this felt 'hurt' by anything, Sherlock would be unaware of this and frankly would not even consider this something to ponder.
That is his way.

There is nothing in this that points to anyone's sexual orientation; sex was the furtherest consideration from their minds.

Marva wrote:

yes, but what is going to happen to Sherlock when it gets clear that there is no real danger arising?

I think it is also quite interesting that Mycroft obviously has the power to get Sherlock back.

The 'Moriarty tapes' only need to be used every now & then. No other evidence just means he's around somewhere doesn't it?
Meanwhile more cases will come along & eventually the storyline will be dropped, as happens in the canon. There are so many more storylines they can do, they won't dwell long on that one.

 

SusiGo wrote:

Kazza, I always thought that this forum was for people who love this show. Of course one may voice criticism and many have done that with which I am absolutely fine.
What I do not appreciate, however, is your condescending way towards groups of fans here on the board or out there in the Net. Last night I went to such a fangirly meeting with nine very people and had a lot of fun. And this is exactly what this here is about for me. Having fun and a good discussions with people from all over the world. 
And we should not forget that the Holmes fandom has been writing pastiches for ages which is a sort of fanfic and a creative and sometimes brilliant way of dealing with your love for ACD canon. 
I would appreciate it very much if you could to stop behaving in this manner. Thank you. 
 

 
I'm sorry for you that you do not nor never have liked the way I type. Your translation of my words as condescending however is a mistake.
Yes, I am critical of the third series, is that against the rules now?
I do note that many of my posts have been followed by yourself & the other mod, what a welcome back that is!
However I would appreciate if you have any problems with my posts that, as a mod, you either direct them to Admin if you don't feel up to handling it yourself, or at least take advantage of the Inbox feature we all have. It really does interupt the flow of the forum and I have so much to catch up on after my hiatus.

I am sure if there is a problem, Admin will contact me about it. She knows where I am.

Sherlock Holmes wrote:

I didn't feel laughed at in the slightest and I didn't feel that it was making fun of the fans. I kind of like the way the makers of the show have such a close relationship with the fandom and that we almost feed off each other.

To me, as you know I am NOT fond of fanfics & a lot of the shipping stuff people do about anything online (not just this show).
Breaking down that 4th wall made me feel like these guys were amateurs at film making, getting all excited that their show has this kind of following (when, if they looked around, it's happening with a lot of shows these days) And they did, in my opinion satirise the average fanfic/fangirl we see splashing their posts all over the web. They have a fanfic group all wearing the 'ear flap hat'; how many of you all went to meets etc wearing those or big flowing coats etc etc looking totally unlike your usual self? As I said in another post, it is sometimes harder to know the boat is moving when you are sitting in it. 

However, I did feel that this particular episode might be quite difficult to watch and confusing for someone who has never seen Sherlock before. It might actually put them off, which would be a shame.

This will certainly happen. I adored S1 & S2 but nearly turned this one off before we ever got to a plot! This show is dangerously close to being categorised as a 'cult show'. And for mainstream viewing that isn't a good thing.
I know this series will struggle even more than S1 &2 did here in Australia. I think it peaked at #4 on the relevant airing nights here, and we don't have many more free to air channels than that here, lol.


 

NiTeLight wrote:

I enjoy references. It's fun to pick them out and I squeal every time I see a cinematic tip of the hat. It's wonderful that Moffit and Gatiss pay so much attention to their fans, and I love that they included nods to various theories, fan desires (kiss with Molly, almost kiss with Moriarty), and the original stories... but it seems that almost every scene had (or revolved around) a nod to one thing or another. It got to the point where it was laughable (as in ludicrous) and I thought it was too much, even though each individual reference was enjoyable to watch. What do you think of all the references? Does anyone else feel like they over did it?

 

 
Way too many. They made the grand mistake of breaking down the 4th wall. They saw fan reactions online (of varying degrees) and in public & 'played up' to them to the point that it influenced the writing.
One or two references perhaps, but this first episode was full of it and it DID ridicule the fanbase.
Now I have not read all the comments here since my return as yet but have as always kept up with things online and the camps seem to be split on this. All I will say is it is hard to know the sea is moving if you are in the boat.

We had to wait till halfway through this episode for anything that looked like a plot because of the fan waving being done. It was tiresome and several times I had the urge to turn it off & take a break from it. Now I adored S1 & S2 so that for me was a huge shock. The show became a comedy rather than a drama.
I also looked at this show from the perspective of a 'newcomer'. They won't get a lot of references (unless they are from the canon) and so some of what they see will be 'stupid' to put it bluntly. It may come as a shock to some, but many people do NOT follow Sherlock online, have never heard of Sherlockology or have any tweets or tumblr posts regarding Sherlock on their feed. Some countries have no other 'contact' with the show other than when the series is